Eudoxus of Cyzicus
Eudoxus of
Voyages to India
According to
Strabo, whose Geography is the main surviving source of the story, was skeptical about its truth. Modern scholarship tends to consider it relatively credible. During the 2nd century BC Greek and Indian ships met to trade at
Another Greek navigator, Hippalus, is sometimes credited with having introduced Europe to the concept of monsoon wind route to India. He is sometimes conjectured to have been part of Eudoxus's expeditions.[3]
When Eudoxus was returning from his second voyage to India the wind forced him south of the Gulf of Aden and down the coast of Africa for some distance. Somewhere along the coast of East Africa, he found the remains of a ship. Due to its appearance and the story told by the natives, Eudoxus concluded that the ship was from Gades (later Cádiz), in Roman Hispania Baetica, and had sailed south around Africa. This inspired him to attempt a circumnavigation of Africa. Organizing the expedition on his own account he set sail from Gades and began to work down the African coast. The difficulties were too great, however, and he was obliged to return to Egypt.[4]
After this failure he again set out to circumnavigate Africa. His eventual fate is unknown. Although some, such as Pliny, claimed that Eudoxus did achieve his goal, the most probable conclusion is that he perished on the journey.[5]
In popular culture
Eudoxus (under the Greek spelling of his name, Eudoxos) is the narrator of
See also
References
- ^ Strabo's Geography2 - Book II Chapter 3, LacusCurtius.
- ^ Greatest emporium in the world Archived 2015-08-07 at the Wayback Machine, CSI, UNESCO.
- ISBN 0-691-00032-8.; online at Google Books
- ISBN 0-8196-0138-1.; online at Google Books
- ISBN 0-8196-0138-1.; online at Google Books